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Behaviours of Gambling

How do you gamble? The majority of the Australian adult population gambles responsibly, with a minority transitioning to behaviours which result in gambling-related harm. The Responsible Service of Gaming teaches staff how to recognise changes in behaviour, and define the types of gaming behaviours being exhibited in their gaming areas.

The definition of Responsible Gambling falls to those that can set limits for themselves and comply by those limits regularly. Irresponsible or problem gambling comes in when patrons can no longer make logic decisions about their gaming habits, and tend to exhibit dangerous behaviours such as: gambling for extended periods of time, exhibiting frustration at the machines or staff for the lack of winnings, return on a more frequent than usual basis, perhaps also commenting on where their funds have come from and whether or not they were meant for more practical purposes. Have a look at the following risk categories for gamblers:

Recreational Gamblers. These are described as people who do not gamble or who are occasional recreational gamblers, generally, have zero to low risk of developing problematic gambling behaviours. These are the Gamblers that spend very little time in the gaming areas and will have a very low expenditure, with little to no reaction to a loss.

Regular Gamblers are deemed the medium to high risk group of people, typically regular gamblers who sometimes gamble more than intended, and their overall gambling pattern can cause moderate harm. These are the face you may know by name, will spend moderate to extended periods of time in the gaming areas, and have a moderate expenditure on their gaming habits.

Frequent Gamblers are people in the high risk group. It is this group who are at the greatest risk of developing severe gambling problems. As they may be the patrons that can longer seem to make rational decisions on expenditure. These are those that you see every day in the gaming area, spend extended periods of time in the gaming area, and may exhibit some over-reactive behaviour to loss or gain from the machines. Patrons exhibiting dangerous gaming habits should be reported to your Venues CLO – who can, perhaps, assist them in accessing support for their developing gambling problem.

There is a spectrum of gambling behaviour: populated at one end by people with no problems through to people with moderate and, at the other end, severe problems. For more information on how to Provide Responsible Gaming services, visit our website and complete an online training course today.